Displays and signage are seen during a special screening of 20th Century Studios’ “The Creator” at TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Calif. on Sept. 18 (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for 20th Century Studios).
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(“The Creator” trailer courtesy of 20th Century Studios)
Hold up.
Wait a minute.
Humans know that artificial intelligence (A.I.) poses a risk to their jobs and the authenticity of the music that they stream.
But now humans also must worry about artificial intelligence using that intelligence to wage war on the humans that created them?
That is the dilemma facing mankind in “The Creator,” which stars John David Washington.
And although “The Creator” has some outlandish moments, the movie represents some new age “ish” that is totally fire.
In “The Creator,” artificial intelligence and humans initially coexist peacefully.
Humans have their purpose and their jobs.
Likewise, artificial intelligence has its role in society.
However, when artificial intelligence detonates a nuclear warhead killing one million people and basically blasting Los Angeles off the map, the leaders of the free world declare a world war against artificial intelligence.
After the nuclear disaster in Los Angeles, artificial intelligence has basically been relegated to the borders of the country New Asia.
Sure, humans live in New Asia.
But in New Asia, there is no doubt that robots with artificial intelligence run things.
And although Joshua (Washington) is from the United States, after the nuclear disaster and its aftermath, he has found a wonderful home in his new country, New Asia.
In “The Creator,” Joshua has a wife named Maya (Gemma Chan).
Furthermore, the loving couple has a baby on the way.
Despite the chaos engulfing the planet, Maya and Joshua are living their best life.
Unfortunately, that life is shattered when American forces storm their homeland out of the blue.
While the inhabitants of New Asia and the robots rush to defend their home, it is too late.
More importantly, it is too late for Joshua to protect his young family from more heartache than any one man should have to endure.
Shattered and crushed, Joshua returns home a broken man.
He has fewer limbs.
He has no wife.
He has no child.
And he seems to have no will to live.
In fact, because of the war against artificial intelligence humans continuing to live much longer is not guaranteed.
However, Joshua has a certain skill set that could help humans live and survive in perpetuity, while destroying the threat artificial intelligence poses to human life once and for all.
In “The Creator,” Nimrata is the god, or creator, of artificial intelligence.
Motivated by America’s threat to the continuation of artificial intelligence, Nimrata has created a weapon via A.I. that will make it impossible for humans to annihilate artificial intelligence.
In “The Creator,” Nimrata has created a weapon called Alpha Omega that will allow the god to control all technology around the world.
Therefore, if humans create a bomb that would wipe out A.I., Alpha Omega could use its power to prevent that from happening.
Although Nimrata has created the weapon, the weapon has not yet fully matured enough to recognize and harness its true power and force.
Therefore, if the American government can convince Joshua to return to New Asia to steal Alpha Omega so that it can be destroyed, order could be restored on Earth.
In “The Creator,” Joshua has reason not to return to New Asia, namely the memories of his wife and unborn child.
Nevertheless, Joshua reluctantly agrees to go on the mission when he is informed that his wife might have survived the invasion that he thinks took her from him.
However, when the Alpha Omega does not come in the physical form that Joshua expects, and he grows a fondness for it, it might make him question his loyalty, therefore impeding the Americans’ mission of destroying artificial intelligence.
“The Creator” comes across uniquely because artificial intelligence is usually depicted as the devil and a threat to people’s well-being.
As this movie comes out, Hollywood writers are coming off a strike in which they sought protection from artificial intelligence taking their jobs or stealing their intellectual property.
However, Alpha Omega does not come across as threatening at all.
The A.I. of all A.I. is actually loving, adorable and downright cute.
Readers must watch “The Creator” to realize what that means because how in the world could artificial intelligence be adorable in real life?
Isn’t A.I. just technology?
Maybe.
Maybe not.
And isn’t artificial intelligence the “bad guy”?
Maybe.
Maybe not.
However, there is no maybe involved when it comes to the Hollywood ascension of Washington.
Children of rich and famous parents sometimes avoid pursuing the same careers as their famous parents for fear of comparisons with a great.
But like O’Shea Jackson, Jr., Washington has embraced the comparisons to his Academy Award-winning father Denzel Washington.
However, the younger Washington has also blazed his own trail, selecting movies tailored-made for his talents like “The Creator.”
Washington shines as a leading man because he seems totally comfortable being John David Washington and not just Denzel’s son.
When watching the younger Washington, it is doubtful that people look at him and mention who is father is.
He is his own man.
Most importantly, he becomes the character on screen.
Therefore, people are not even watching him on screen.
Moviegoers will become enthralled with the character he is portraying.
And although “The Creator” as a whole will enthrall moviegoers too, the movie does suffer from some zany moments.
Nevertheless, what’s not zany is the threats and benefits that artificial intelligence will provide.
It is possible that A.I. will be mankind’s biggest enemy.
And it is possible that A.I. will be the best thing to happen to mankind.
People will just have to wait a minute to see which wins out.
REGAL RATINGS
FOUR CROWNS=EXCELLENT
THREE CROWNS=GOOD
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ONE CROWN=POOR
